Newsletter #103
May 5, 2008
The
Web's Only Peer-Reviewed Panama Newsletter
#103 Clueless and Worthless
My Ongoing War with Clueless and Worthless
Sometimes
known as Cable and Wireless (they put it on their bills) Panama's
premier telecommunications company has few admirers and deservedly so.
Observing some of their actions prompts the question "Is there any
Intelligent Life at Cable and Wireless?" A recent example; I and
several friends began having email problems a few months ago. We could
receive email just fine, but could not send messages out. The only
thing we all had in common was that our email servers are located
outside Panama. There were several @panamaretire.net accounts and a
@panamamasons.net account. The temporary fix was to use the online mail
programs instead of Thunderbird, Evolution, or Outlook. After a lot of
head-scratching and trouble-shooting, my friend John called the C&W
"help" desk and they eventually told him that they are blocking all
SMTP server traffic (this is the server that forwards your outgoing
email) if the server is not located in Panama, and the solution is to
use the C&W SMTP server. The explanation was that they are trying
to control SPAM. This is, needless to say, totally BOGUS. I have a lot
of email accounts and the ONLY one that regularly receives more than
one or two SPAM messages is my @cwpanama.net account. I think it a lot
more likely that the only way they can monitor all outgoing email is to
make sure it goes through their servers. Not too sure about who might
be forcing this, but I have my suspicions.
Back to the point,
one of my clients has been using a foreign email server for years, and
when I tried to set up their @cwpanama.net address in the SMTP account,
it wouldn't work. A call to C&W found that they had discontinued
the account, and to get it turned back on, my client had to submit a
written request signed by the legal representative. Well, that took
several days, but finally the new password was issued. It was a
six-digit sequential number, which to a black hat hacker is no password
at all. OK, let's log in and change the password. No cigar, there is no
option in the C&W online email program to change the password. My
client called the "help" desk and asked how to change the password and
was told they would have to submit another written request, signed by
the legal representative. At this point, client went postal,
questioning their IQ and ancestry, and screamed at them. When the
client calmed down, they finally admitted that there was a URL where
the password could be changed. Now, in all my trying to find a password
changing operation, I looked at every cwpanama.net address I could
find, but it turns out that the password program is hidden away at
cwpanama.com! I'm curious to know how many of their customers have
never bothered or been able to change the default password because they
didn't know that you have to go to cwpanama.com to change it. BTW, just
as a matter of interest, they also use a default password on most of
their ADSL modems. A black hat could have a field day on the Clueless
and Worthless network.
Product Report
Some
of the never ending problems of living in a tropical climate can be as
mundane as keeping salt dry. Over the years, Nora and I have probably
thrown away 50 pounds of wet table salt. Now, at last, there is a
solution. Panasol has introduced a small plastic container of table
salt with a tight fitting lid that is both water tight and small enough
that you can use all of the salt before it gets damp, IF you remember
to replace the cap immediately after use. At $.40 for 115 grams, it is
expensive, compared to the one pound box, but I'd rather have a shaker
of dry salt than a one pound box of damp. While on the subject of salt,
there was a time when I could buy raw salt for about $.25 a pound,
which I used for brining fish before smoking, but a recent search for
it turned up nothing but iodized table salt, unless I was willing to
pay about $4.00 a pound for kosher or "gourmet" salt. That is one
problem with living in a small country; the market is too small for
some products. Look for the shakers in most Supermarkets.
Driver's License
The following comes from the Americans in Panama group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/americans_in_panama/) This is for new residents with a US license to get their first-time license. Thanks to Manny Landron.
Steps for Getting your Panamanian driver's license
These are the new steps to get the Panama drivers lic.
1- Take your stateside drivers lic to the consulate and have it certified.( $30.00 fee)
2- Take that certification to the Panamanian foreign ministry to get it stamped.
3- They will give you a paper to take to the National Bank to pay two dollars and buy some stamps.
4-
Go back to the Ministry and form another line (look for the Pensionado
line if pensionado) and turn the receipts and stamps in. At that
time they will tell you when to come back to get the paperwork back.
5- Come back when told and get the paperwork.
6- If you don't have proof of your blood type get one at any lab/clinic.
7- Take the paperwork to the DL section (Albrook Mall near El Rey supermarket)
8- They will collect $40.00 from you, give you an eye and hearing test, take your picture and issue you the new Panamanian DL.
If you start early you might do everything in one day but usually it's a two day deal.
Simple ah?????? Manny
Editor's note: Bureaucracy, ya gotta love it.
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